How do you turn piles of boxes and junk into a usable space? One sure way for us was to organize our garage.
We’ve never had a real garage before. So, our first instinct was to use it as a storage space, as most people do. But instead of storing miscellaneous stuff, we wanted it to actually store our family car, the Honda Odyssey, a mini-van we purchased just before our third and youngest child was born. It was our first new car, and we want to protect our investment.
The garage clutter started when my husband thought it would be a good idea to make the garage our staging area for stuff when we moved. What this means is that most of our boxes were moved into the garage, rather than into the rooms themselves. This did make sense at the time, since the house needed a good scrubbing down and some repairs that needed to be done before we could fully move in to the home.
In the months following the move, some things did get rescued from the garage. Boxes were opened and stuff was put away. But stuff also just got moved around. Someone looking for something might open a box, dig through it and discard what he didn’t need onto a shelf or another box. So, you see the problem.
Our reorganization took two days.
On the first day, I first swept the driveway clean of debris. Then, I used that space to set up three tarps for things that might go back into the garage: Toys (for playing outdoors), tools and household items. I also set up an area with empty boxes for items that could be donated. My husband dragged a large garbage can out to the opposite side of the donation pile for any obvious trash.
Next, we enlisted the kids to help empty the garage. Because there were obvious zones set up for stuff, it was easy for them and us to get everything on the tarps. As we went along, we threw away the obvious trash and loaded things onto the donation pile, a-la the television show, “Clean Sweep.” I was channelling Peter Walsh when I confronted my husband with a moldy baseball glove that hadn’t been used since before we were married, as well as a set of dusty golf clubs.
Of course, I have to admit that there was at least one thing that I had a hard time letting go.
Want to here more? Check back in the Home Blog for Organizing The Garage: Day 1, Part 2
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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